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BEIJING — A large swath of northeastern China has been crippled for two days by severe air
pollution that forced airports and schools to close and drivers to turn on their headlights in the
middle of the day.

The “airpocalypse” was blamed on the start of the winter-heating season Sunday in a region that
still uses coal-powered plants and the burning of fields at the end of the harvest. The lack of
wind and high humidity also contributed to the severe pollution, meteorologists told the state
media.

In Harbin, a city of 12 million that’s world-famous for its wintertime ice festival, the smog
was so thick that visibility was reduced to 20 yards.

Municipal bus drivers lost their way in the haze. In one case, a morning rush-hour bus that left
at 5:30 wandered around for three hours before the driver found the route.

Expressways across the city were closed, and most pedestrians who braved the outdoors wore face
masks.

Other cities that experienced unusually high pollution, which local media labeled as
record-breaking, included Changchun, capital of Jilin province, and Shenyang, capital of
Liaoning.

Beijing occasionally experiences days during which pollution veers into hazardous levels, but it
is rare in the far north of the country.

“The impact of air pollution on people will be gradual. There won’t be a sudden outbreak of
symptoms, but normally three to five days after the smoggy weather occurs, there is a peak in the
number of people seeing doctors,” Deng Ying, a doctor at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin
Medical University, told the New China News Agency.

Officials said that PM 2.5, the fine particulate matter that is most destructive to the lungs,
was over 500 micrograms per cubic meter in most of the city yesterday, and in some downtown
locations it reached up to 1,000. A reading above 300 is considered hazardous by the World Health
Organization.

Harbin’s daily newspaper said that 2,000 schools were ordered closed on Monday and
yesterday.

The city’s website instructed residents to drive with their headlights on at reduced speed.

Pedestrians complained that they had difficulty making their way because visibility was so
low.

“I’m in Harbin holding your hand, but I can’t see your face,” wrote one microblogger on the
Sina.com website.

More hazardous-air days are expected in coming weeks as temperatures drop and heating is turned
on throughout northern China.

Yesterday, Beijing announced emergency measures that would force schools to close and cars to be
restricted to odd-even-day driving if pollution reaches critical levels.